WASHINGTON — The Army has given up attempts to acquire land for expanding the Piñon Canyon training site in the next year, shifting the money that had been allocated for the purpose to other uses, according to congressional and Army sources.

Originally, Army budget makers had planned to allocate $17 million in fiscal 2010 for land acquisition associated with Piñon Canyon, a line item consistent with public statements made by Army officials as recently as this month that the controversial expansion is still a priority.

But faced with a push-back from Congress and a so-far unsuccessful strategy focused on leasing land, that money was re allocated to military construction at Fort Polk, La., in the budget’s final version, those sources said.

The Army still has wiggle room in the way it can spend funds for military construction, but experts say the move is a clear signal that the Army is backing off any effort to buy land to expand the facility, at least in the near term.

“The Army has made a commitment to only purchase or lease from willing landowners. To this point, no deal has been reached with any landowners. Therefore, funds were shifted to a project that was both militarily necessary and executable in fiscal year 2010,” an Army spokesman said Wednesday.

“If the Army is patient, and if we do a good job listening to the congressional delegation and local stakeholders, the Army is confident that ultimately a mutually agreeable way ahead can be found,” the spokesman said.

Military officials emphasized that the Fort Polk construction — in the damp midlands of Louisiana — isn’t meant to replace an expanded Piñon Canyon facility that more closely resembles conditions in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Meeting the requirements at one installation will not negate the need to fill the unmet requirements at the other,” according to an Army statement responding to questions on the issue from The Denver Post.

Still, in the past several months the ground has shifted significantly in the debate over the Army’s controversial proposal to buy or rent at least 100,000 acres to expand the training facility southeast of Colorado Springs — and the military’s tone and approach appear to be shifting with it.

Keith Eastin, the Army assistant secretary who had most aggressively pursued the expanded facility, retired last month; a purported deal to lease 70,000 acres from a private landowner in the area fell apart early this year; and the Colorado legislature this session passed a bill prohibiting the lease or sale of state lands for the Piñon Canyon facility (though the bill has yet to be signed by the governor).

Many farmers and ranchers in the area continue to vehemently oppose the expansion.

The budget move appears to confirm recent assurances by military officials that the expansion is for the moment on hold, although many on both sides say they are looking for a permanent resolution.

The Army chief of staff, Gen. George Casey, “was pretty clear he wanted to keep that option open” to ultimately pursue the Piñon Canyon expansion, according to U.S. Rep. John Salazar, a Manassa Democrat, who pressed Casey on the subject after he spoke on Capitol Hill last week.

A member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and an opponent of the expansion, Salazar said he believes the Army won’t abandon its effort to expand the facility of its own accord, and he plans to push for a permanent prohibition in the form of legislation this year.

“I’ve always believed the Army had other options available, and that’s what really bothered me,” Salazar said.

“We’re looking for ways to make it permanent, so these (landowners) don’t live under this threat all their lives,” he said.

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